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martes, 31 de enero de 2012

As everyone and their grandmother knows by now, the Knicks are playing awful basketball right now. Many call for Mike D’antoni’s head, while others blame Carmelo Anthony or team owner Jim Dolan. Theories abound as to what is the cause of this mess and how it can be fixed. The problem with that, though, is that there’s no real solution. Not without some highly unlikely roster changes. The Knicks have dug themselves a hole that they won’t be able to get out of for several years.When Dolan forced Donnie Walsh to trade most of the team’s above average players(who also happened to fit well in D’antoni’s system) for Carmelo Anthony, he put the team in a very difficult position. Having lost the only pure point guard he had, D’antoni couldn't find a way to make the offense balanced and effective, and since they had given Denver almost all of their trade chips, they didn’t have enough to offer for Chris Paul or any other pure PG. Without that, D’antoni’s offense just can’t be effective. He has very clear limitations as a coach, but if you give him a roster that fits his offensive system and includes a top defensive center like Chandler, he can make it a championship contender. His current roster’s overall passing skills are very limited, and that goes against the foundation of his system, and that’s certainly not his fault. In a very smart move, they signed Tyson Chandler, who is perfect for the team and has helped them make huge strides on defense. As good as he is, however, he can’t do much to solve the team’s issues on offense, and at this point, probably no one can. As everyone should have expected, Baron Davis is in even worse shape than usual, which is saying something. He’s not the solution. Also, their cap space is very limited, so it would be very, very hard for them to get the type of pg they’re looking for via free agency. Even if they keep the same roster and coaching staff, they will not be this bad all season. Barring injuries to key players, they can’t miss the playoffs with the talent they have; but they have no chance of getting past the first round without a roster or coaching change.The Knicks will not contend for a championship for at least three years. That, however, doesn’t mean that they can’t become a mid-tier team that wins over 45-50 games every year and wins a few playoff series. Firing D’antoni and making Mike Woodson the head coach would improve the offense enough to make this a winning team. His experience in winning with an offense that uses a lot of isolation should help a lot. It might not make them a top 10 offensive team, but it should make them above average at least. As far as the blame goes, Dolan and Anthony should get most of it. The former, for giving up so much for Carmelo, and the latter for threatening to go to another team if NY didn’t do everything possible to get him. Two men with very limited team-building skills were the main players in the building of this roster, and that has predictably resulted in the mess that the Knicks have become.